


Won't you be my problem, it's okay with me if it hurts

by justusingwords



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Hanahaki Disease, Heavy Angst, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:54:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25854682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justusingwords/pseuds/justusingwords
Summary: A Hanahaki disease AU. Lexa loved flowers and enjoyed everything about them, from their delicate petals and bold colours to the magnificent scents. She had cute little succulents lined on her window sill, bought nice bouquets for her bedside dresser and adored watching them bloom into something gorgeous. And even though she heard stories in passing and read the news reports, she never did associate pretty flowers with a disease that was so fucking sad.
Relationships: Anya/Raven Reyes, Clarke Griffin/Lexa
Comments: 8
Kudos: 117





	Won't you be my problem, it's okay with me if it hurts

**Author's Note:**

> Hanahaki Disease is a fictional disease where someone coughs up flowers when they suffer from unrequited love. It ends when the other person returns their feelings, or when the victim dies. I’ll include the meanings of the flowers as I go and have them in italics. You’ll know when you see it.
> 
> The title of this piece is from Under the Table by BANKS.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters from The 100, I’m just really into writing. Watch out for Aussie slang or terms. All mistakes are my own.

Lexa loved flowers and enjoyed everything about them, from their delicate petals and bold colours to the magnificent scents. She had cute little succulents lined on her window sill, bought nice bouquets for her bedside dresser and adored watching them bloom into something gorgeous. And even though she heard stories in passing and read the news reports, she never did associate pretty flowers with a disease that was so _fucking_ sad.

At least, not until she coughed one day, and watched a stray white petal fall from her mouth to land on the ground by her feet.

***

They were twenty-one when they met, where Clarke bumped into the corner of the desk Lexa was seated at before dropping into the empty chair opposite her that squeaked aggressively. It had never been more jarring to her ears on an otherwise peaceful afternoon at her university library. The brunette was prepared to rip into whoever dared interrupt her, though ended up snapping her jaw shut instead. The woman in front of her was so pretty it was criminal, even if it looked like she was sporting the mother of all headaches.

“You look like you could use four coffees and some paracetamol.” Lexa found herself saying unsurely.

“And then another espresso.” She decided.

“You’re not wrong.”

The answer was simple; blunt, and honestly, kind of uncaring.

Lexa nodded and then pressed her lips together into a slight frown, deciding it was perhaps better to zip it and let the blonde ride whatever it was, out. Anya would’ve been proud that she managed a complete sentence without turning into a puddle of goo like she did around girls, so she did well in her own books. Catching a quick glance at her watch, it finally dawned on her that she had been studying for 5 hours straight, and began packing her books quietly.

“…You’re heading out to buy me coffee, right?”

Lexa paused with knitted brows and looked to her left, then to the other side, just in case. The next person was three tables away with expensive headphones over their ears, and they were the noise-cancelling ones she had been eyeing for weeks. Then she realised she wasn’t having a stroke because the girl was actually talking to her, asking her for a coffee like they had been best friends since their imaginary fight in the sandbox during kindergarten.

“I could be.”

“M’kay, I’m not going anywhere.” Was the grumbled response.

The brunette blinked a couple times before finally leaving her neatly stacked books to head to the 7-Eleven down the block. Was she usually this generous with strangers? Mostly. The reality was that she just couldn’t resist those blonde locks and baby blues.

She came back within 10 minutes, juggling a large coffee, a bottle of water, some paracetamol, an apple and a KitKat. When the items were laid out between them, Lexa watched the other girl reach for the chocolate bar, and pried it from her grip with a quick smile.

“That one’s for me.”

And the rest, they say, is history.

*

Five years and seven months later, they were roommates; attached by the hip, inseparable and the very definition of friendship goals that every other person wanted. By then, they had been through thick and thin together, had travelled to places and countries they refused to share with anybody else. They knew when to push, when it was pancakes with ice cream and a shit tonne of syrup time or if it was just a matter of spooning on their couch for the entire weekend. And they were completely sure they’d grow old and wrinkly together until they had to move into a shared granny flat.

That had always been the plan.

Even when Clarke Griffin was dating Tim or seeing that cute girl from the bookstore or hitting up Jessica to destress just because. And it was still their plan when Lexa was in the most serious relationship of her life for three years.

That dream shattered on a weekday morning moments after the barista bellowed “Lexa” out the window and straight into her unamused face. She was the only person standing by the sidewalk sporting running gear and still sweating skin. Lexa quirked a brow at him, took the cups in her hands and turned away to head home. The coffees weren’t as hot as she was used to, and she was _sure_ Clarke would whine about it for 5 minutes straight after the first sip. She’d still be rocking bed hair for days and probably not wearing a bra because ‘why would I?’.

She didn’t notice it at first until it tickled on its way up her throat, making her cough uncomfortably before she had no way of holding it in and leaned forward to avoid the splatter. Instead of last night’s dinner like she was expecting, she eyed the small scattering of petals on the concrete ground after she heaved twice. Her gut clenched tightly, and one cup of coffee had fallen from her grip, rolling down towards the road and spilling art as it went. Lexa Woods couldn’t tear her gaze away from the mess before her that was making her mind race with a million and one thoughts.

Lexa took a few unsteady steps towards the brick wall closest to her, right by a cute little store and then slumped against it, head tilted up towards the glaring sun. Breaking from her daily routine she had perfected to a tee, she gave herself a couple of minutes to calm the shaking in her fingers. She was a smart woman, sharp and very self-aware, so she wasn’t particularly surprised by what had happened.

No, what really shocked her was that she was now on a clock. She used to brush certain thoughts away like the way she would run her hands down the lapel of her blazers to smooth it right out. She considered them locked away in a box somewhere in the darkest corners of herself, and the key was supposed to be lost in the Mariana Trench.

But the simple truth was that she was in love with Clarke Griffin.

She had learned to love her best friend quickly, and it had never stopped. It didn’t start out as romantic because no matter how weak she was for pretty girls, she had built wall after wall and a freaken moat (with the drawbridge smashed to splinters) right around her heart. The love she had for the blonde was purely platonic and stayed that way for a while, even when Clarke took every and any opportunity to screech that Lexa was her soulmate to anyone that would listen. It was adorable, and she’d always wrap herself around Lexa afterwards to whisper that she was her ‘best platonic soulmate in this universe and the next’ right by her ear. And she was fine with it, really, she was.

Then one afternoon, when she was slathering avocado onto a piece of toast in the kitchen, Clarke blindly snatched it from her hand and went to town on it. With a weak grumble, Lexa had reached for a second piece on the counter and watched the younger woman chew like a child with crumbs dusted around the edges of her lips. She had used her thumb to swipe them away for Clarke, and instead of the usual fondness that warmed her entire being, she simply felt at peace. Lexa wanted to curl into the woman, breathe her scent in and never let go.

And when she scared herself from high heaven to hell with the thought of being in love with her best friend, she went to work with burying her feelings six feet under. It probably wasn’t her best moment, trying to trick herself into thinking all the troubles and heartache would disappear once it was buried. For such a clever person, it was completely stupid for her to believe that something hidden wouldn’t claw its way up to the surface in the future. Now, there was nowhere for her to run, except to her grave, if it came to that. And the thing was, she knew that was exactly where she was headed.

Tick tock.

“Fuck.” Lexa breathed out.

*

The brunette couldn’t really remember how she got home after that, and felt the next few days blur together as if she had been staring into a kaleidoscope nonstop. When she blinked next, she was sitting in her office staring at a half-completed document with no memory of when it was first pulled up on her screen. Come to think of it, the brunette couldn’t really remember what food she had put in her body, if any, and had no recollection of her drives home after work. There was a quick flash of panic that gripped at her when she realised Clarke was definitely aware that something was wrong by now. She figured she had another day or two to get it together, otherwise it would all go downhill. Quickly.

So, she spent a few extra hours after work to write up a list of things she needed to do. She wasn’t jotting down excuses to fling at her best friend or all the different things she could say when Clarke would inevitably sit her down and stare until it made her fidget.

The list was another plan of sorts, now that the original one was thrown out the window because of flowers. _Flowers_.

The first couple of dot points made her head spin because for fuck’s sake she was going to make a will, so that all the important things would be divided between Anya, Raven and Clarke, including all her savings in the bank. She also noted down the amount of money needed to clear 6 months of rent at their place for when she’d be gone, and brief instructions for Anya. With the heavier things ticked off, Lexa started to pen down the more mundane things. Like fixing the leak by the window Clarke loved to sit at when it stormed, buying that crazy expensive art set that the blonde would never get for herself, and finally, finally, getting a pet for her best friend.

Just as Lexa wanted to add something else to the list, she felt the itch at the base of her throat and reached for the trash can. Not a second sooner, crumpled oleanders came out of her mouth and spewed into the bin, some managing to slide down the side of her pants. Her breaths continued to come out deep and laboured as she tried to force the sickness down where it belonged. When she was sure that was the last of it, she glanced down at the sticky, unflattering flowers. _Caution_. Well, it was a bit late for that, wasn’t it?

She couldn’t get rid of the taste of flowers no matter how hard she brushed her teeth that night. Though she let Clarke call her a weirdo by the doorframe as she made herself grin back at the woman through the mirror.

*

Fast forward another three weeks, and Lexa was seconds away from throwing a spinning hook kick to get Anya on her ass during their sparring session. Except just before she could execute the move, she felt the tell-tale signs of flowers fighting their way out of her body. With that focus gone, she copped a roundhouse kick to the jaw that resulted in her coughing up blood and long stems of blue salvias all over the mat. Anya’s smirk at the winning move dropped right off her face as she quickly moved to stand by her. Lexa tried to shake off the crimson droplets that had splashed onto her hands, and just couldn’t resist touching the petals that normally would’ve looked beautiful. _Thinking of you_. Of course she would always be thinking of her.

Lexa swiped the sweat away from her face and grimaced at the blinding pain spreading in her upper body, catching Anya’s gritted teeth and furrowed brows.

“Don’t.”

“If it’s this bad, it means you haven’t seen that doctor I told you about.”

“Please don’t make a big deal out of this."

“You’re my _sister_.” Anya snapped, voice breaking.

There were a few beats silence between the two, where Lexa squeezed her eyes shuts at those words, because Anya didn’t do feelings and even she couldn’t hide it. It made her question just how long she had left, finally feeling the world start to close in around her.

“Ahn…” She whispered.

Lexa felt Anya drop down beside her, bumping her sweaty forehead against her temple, defeated. She could distinctly count the number of times her older sister had initiated contact or an embrace on her fingers. This time, it didn’t really surprise her like it used to. So, she fell into Anya and hid her face into the neck offered to let the tears slide down her face and drip off her chin. It was probably the single most uncomfortable position for her body to be bent sideways the way it was, but the brunette also hadn’t felt this safe in a while. Long fingers gingerly carded through her tangled locks, and it made her think back to when she was a little girl. Things were much easier then, where her biggest worries were which flavour ice cream she could choose during grocery shopping and what colour hair tie would match her outfit (she always went with black anyway). Turns out, the world is so much bigger than that, and Lexa wasn’t quite ready.

It also felt like the universe enjoyed rubbing salt into her wound when she doubled over in her sister’s arms and threw up some more.

*

Lexa unlocked the front door and poked her head through the gap to try and gauge the mood in the room, knowing Clarke had had a rough day. When the best friend was nowhere in sight, she slipped in to kick her boots off while balancing bags upon bags and other items. She noticed the two glasses of red sitting on the kitchen counter, one emptier than the other and smiled softly.

“Lex?” she heard from further in the house.

“In the living room.” She called, dropping everything down from her left arm and then flopping onto the couch.

“Ok, well, I ordered Italian and Mexican because I can and because they had a deal, it should be here in 15. Also, Raven’s coming over later to spaz about something she blew up in the basement that Anya’s mad about.”

The brunette shook her head in amusement because Anya had complained to her about the mini explosion already, and decided to pour all her love and attention to what was squirming in her hands. The golden retriever was happily trying to paw at her nose, her hair and whatever else he could reach while his tail wagged furiously from side to side. Those little puppy breaths would need some getting used to, nonetheless, he was perfect and warm, and everything else she was hoping for.

When Clarke finally emerged from the hallway in sweatpants and a baggy hoodie she knew was hers, she smirked and lifted the puppy into the air the way that Simba was presented to the world.

“All hail the king.”

Her best friend legitimately gasped before jumping onto her, bony joints jabbing into her hip briefly and narrowly missing her ribs as she carefully took the golden retriever and pressed her nose to his.

“You got us a puppy? Oh my god, babe, you got us the cutest puppy.” she was beside herself with excitement, while showering kisses all over the dog’s head, and then dropping down on top of Lexa.

“I was going to get you fish, but he barked at me and then ran into the glass window when he tried to get to me.” Lexa admitted.

“Your badass reputation is going down the drain as soon as I post this on Insta.”

She chuckled and watched the way Clarke held him gently, pet every inch of him tenderly and laughed when he licked her chin for the first time. This was the kind of life she wanted, and the kind that made her lungs fill with vines and thorns, rendering her breathless in the worst ways.

Clarke smiled up at her, and Lexa automatically closed her eyes, letting her fingers run up and down the younger woman’s back lazily.

*

It was an important business dinner at a high-end restaurant that saw Lexa try to stop her bouncing leg under the table as she tapped her matterhorn glass of whiskey against a flute of champagne and down the liquid in one go. She was well on her way to being drunk and it probably showed in her glassy eyes, though she couldn’t stop herself.

Emily Laurent was wise, so patient and could take a dirty joke like no other. Their proposed deal had been signed within half an hour of them sitting down at their table, and shop talk was pushed to the side straight after. They chatted about that surprisingly tasty vegetarian place the next town over and the hole in the wall bar that they’d both only been to once; then they laughed about the latest viral video that Lexa had no idea existed because she still couldn’t wrap her head around the purpose of Snapchat.

She also pretended not to see her phone light up with a message from Clarke that had a penguin emoji, a dancing lady emoji and a peanut emoji, followed by a row of hearts. What she did do, was let Emily giggle and flirt with her because she had wavy brown locks and honey eyes. Lexa ended up ordering another whiskey neat and knocked it back with purpose, meeting the other woman’s heavy gaze.

“Should we wrap this up?” Emily asked, hand already waving down the closest waiter.

By the time they made it out the door, Lexa felt both drunk and sober, weak yet powerful, and hopelessly lost. Her brain was telling her to take the woman’s hand, drag her to find a cab and then fall into bed with her so that she could stop feeling so lonely. On the flip side, the thing in her chest protested violently, because there was someone waiting for her at home. Someone that was hurting her and also loving her more than any other person in her entire life.

Emily smiled softly and tucked a loose strand of hair behind Lexa’s ear, eyes somehow shining in understanding as she made the decision for her.

“Thank you for dinner, Lexa. I haven’t had that much fun in a while, and I’m glad we’ll be working closely together in the future.”

She gave her an easy out of what could’ve been an incredibly wild yet still unsatisfying night, so the brunette took it.

“Good night, Emily.”

Lexa made it down two blocks before she rounded the corner and dropped to her knees, alcohol and bile spilling onto the rough concrete underneath her palms. It smelt terrible and she could feel the puddle of sick starting to seep through her favourite pair of tailored pants as she coughed and coughed. However, laundry day was the least of her worries when whole primroses joined the heap, a mix of pale pink, yellow and white. She licked the front of her teeth with her tongue and spat out the few lingering petals and leaves that wouldn’t leave her alone. She didn’t need another reminder whispering _I can't live without you_ endlessly when the ironic part was that she couldn’t actually live _with_ her either.

Seriously, who decided that such beautiful things should live inside a human body until it took away their last breath of air anyway?

*

She knew Clarke had suspicions about her ability to disappear at the most random moments, sometimes brief, and other times for hours on end. She was also concerned (being the natural worry wart that she was) and it showed in the way she tried to cling harder to Lexa. Where Clarke would normally give her space and breathing room, she now found the most miniscule reason to stick around even if they weren’t physically touching.

And through it all, Lexa was careful to hide the way her ribs were much more pronounced and the loss of muscle mass that made her feel so weak. Her cheekbones were sharper than ever, almost on par with Anya even if Raven would argue to the ends of the world that that wasn’t possible. If anyone was looking for the correct words to describe Lexa these days, it would be gaunt, miserable and downright _fucked_.

What really made her feel like dirt though, was the fact that she had lied to her best friend about a business trip so that she could book herself into a hotel room and puke her life away. She left their apartment in the morning with a packed duffle after pressing a kiss to Clarke’s temple and telling her to eat something healthy while she was gone. Then she walked 15 blocks to get checked in.

The third night in, Lexa was seated by the window watching the stunning city lights like she’d never seen them before. It was quiet, peaceful maybe, however the bubble broke when her hotel door swung open and Anya strode in with frenzied eyes. They zeroed in on her, and Lexa noticed the way her sibling’s figure relaxed the slightest bit that she wasn’t passed out just yet.

“How the hell did you get up here?” she asked slowly.

“It’s surprising what people will do for you when you tell them your sister’s dying.”

“I’m not-”

“Except we both know that you are, Alexandria. You’re on borrowed time now, and you’re spending it cooped up in a dingy room when you could be telling Clarke the truth. She deserves to know before you’re buried in the ground, just like you deserve a chance with her by speaking up!”

“You know I can’t tell her and nothing will change my mind.” Lexa was quick to try and shut her down.

“And you’re not even half the martyr you think you’re being, because let me tell you the honest truth you’re hiding from like the coward that you are. You’re terrified that blondie doesn’t love you the way you’ve been hoping for for years, and you’re hiding behind the flimsy excuse of saving her from the guilt of being the reason you’re dead. She’s written into your will as the main beneficiary because you’re a scared little girl. So come on and tell me that I’m wrong!”

Anya was openly shouting, something she didn’t often do because she was a woman of composure, yet she was doing it very well and very loudly. There was enough gravel and volume to it that Lexa was worried security might pay her visit for disturbing the peace. Even if there was a little truth to what her sister was spouting for the rest of the world to hear, it certainly wasn’t something she was ready to admit.

There was simply no more anger coursing through her body like it did in the beginning when she first realised what she was dealing with. She had had enough time to understand and accept life for what it was, and she was simply waiting now.

“If you’re done with your little hissy fit, I’m going to put on a documentary. You can stay or you can walk out and then send me some weird cow gif tomorrow as an apology. Which is it going to be?” Lexa asked tiredly.

The older woman’s furious gaze almost burnt a hole into the side of Lexa’s face, before eventually fading as she could never justify leaving her baby sister to suffer alone. Anya wordlessly threw herself onto the couch and rudely gestured an arm towards the blank TV, ignoring the remote control that was clearly within reaching distance. Lexa joined her with an exhausted smile and pressed play on the first documentary that was offered on the flat screen.

It had been building for the past week, she could feel it in the dull ache of her chest that she had been ignoring because she had more important things to do like make sure everything was in place. It was coming, and she had been working herself into the ground to get all the pieces in motion with the deadline looming over her head.

She knew it, her sister knew it, Raven probably knew a thing or two, and Clarke knew _something_ was up, just didn’t know enough.

But tonight, it happened in a flash, too quickly for her usually sharp brain to keep up. When the ringing in her ears finally stopped, she was already lying on the floor beside a heap of bloodied cyclamens that told her _goodbye_. Each breath became evidently more shallow and harder to pull in than the next, until her lungs burned. How long had she blacked out for? Was it mere seconds or were they talking minutes? Because the only thing she could pay attention to was the blood that wouldn’t stop running rivers down her cheek to pool on the tiles beneath her, and she watched the puddle grow bigger and bigger.

It was finally going to end, and the last image she had of the love of her life was the barely awake smile that made her want to kiss the beauty mark by pouty lips. She still remembered the deep blue eyes that stared up into her this morning, and she loved the way Clarke Griffin smelt of sleep and that laundry detergent she pretended to hate. So, she clung to the memory of holding the woman in her once strong arms, barely making out Anya snarling like a feral animal from somewhere beside her and feeling rough fingers press against the side of her neck. Her eyelids drooped and stayed heavy, even as she tried so hard to fight it to see Clarke for just a little longer than she probably deserved.

“Lexa, don’t you do this, you fucking idiot! Fight this. Fight it, Lexa, please!”

It was cold.

When did it get so cold?

*

Clarke Griffin was bored out of her mind and a little miffed, if she was honest. It was going to be a quiet weekend in, and while she wasn’t opposed to them, she almost always had Lexa with her to make it stupid warm and fluffy. Just not this one, since the woman casually dropped that she was pulled into a last-minute trip the next state over that she couldn’t get out of. The timing was so convenient, seeing as Clarke was right on the edge of confronting her best friend for practically making a hobby out of vanishing on her lately. What a way to slowly announce that she was secretly seeing someone after all this time. She was a grown adult though, and she’d eventually be ok with Lexa dating again.

Before she could dive any deeper into those thoughts, a golden bundle of joy wandered into the living room with a stuffed bear hanging from his mouth. One of the legs was dangling by its last threads, so Fish was pretty much cleaning the floor with it at any given time. The blonde bent down with open arms and a soft smile,

“Well, hello there.” She greeted the puppy who jumped into her embrace and proceeded to climb all over her while pressing kisses to her face.

A few adorable barks later, he was resting comfortably on her chest, chilling to Ghost Loft and the rhythm of Clarke’s heartbeats as one. He had been a little withdrawn once he realised Lexa wasn’t home, padding in and out of her room like she would magically appear the next time he tried it.

“I know, buddy, I miss her too.” She whispered against his nose.

It was 9pm on a Saturday, and while Lexa was probably still busy closing an important deal at one of those fancy dinners, she still attached a video of Fish throwing Teddy on the ground in favour of dinner. Just as she was about to press send, her phone lit up with Anya’s name.

A little odd, yet not completely out of the realm with the closeness of the sisters, her relationship with Lexa, and how Raven tied into it all as Anya’s fiancé. Still, it was kind of unusual as the older woman would reach out to the other two well before her.

“Clarke,”

The tone cut through her straight away, and Clarke was on her feet as dread filled her from head to toe. Fish picked up on it in a split second and started nudging the back of her thigh impatiently from his spot on the couch.

“Anya, what-”

“Shut up and listen to me, Raven will pick you up and bring you to a hotel. Go to the counter and get the key for room 907, and do it fast.” She ordered with no room to argue.

“What’s happening, where’s Lexa-”

Her doorbell rang, and she knew without a doubt that it was Raven waiting. She still didn’t understand why, and her brain was scrambling to keep up.

“You have questions and you’ll get answers, but right now, Lexa needs you! If anything happens to her, I’m coming after you and not even Raven can stop me.” The woman barked fiercely.

The words didn’t make a lot of sense to her, yet they were enough to kick her into gear and head for her shoes by the foyer. When she swung the door open violently, Raven stood there with wet eyes and a tense jaw.

“Raven, tell me-”

“Lexa could be dying.”

The phone in Clarke’s hand dropped and shattered.

*

She was alive.

By some miracle, she was still breathing even though everything in her body screamed pain and seemed to be working against her desperately. The noises and sensations around her were constantly in and out of focus, like the lights that seemed to flicker wickedly in the edges of her vision. Anya’s voice was far away one moment, crystal clear in her ear the next before slowly drowning out into nothingness.

On her way to wherever the hell she was headed, Lexa saw flashes of blonde and vibrant blue, her favourite combination. Maybe she was too far gone at that point and imagined those pitiful yips that sounded so much like Fish, and made up the feeling of her body being shifted as if it weighed a damn feather. In any event, it made her queasy and her entire torso flare up in agony, so she had no choice but to lol her head to the side and let more red run down her chin.

“Lexa! Lexa, can you hear me, baby?”

Why did it sound like Clarke, why was Clarke with her when she was moments away from kicking it? This wasn’t part of her plan-

“Just listen to my voice, Lexa, please listen to me. I’m not letting you go this time, I promise.”

It was getting louder, a little clearer and more frantic, and the point was, she didn’t feel like she was drowning under water anymore. Her ribs still felt like they were caving in on itself, but why did it feel a little more bearable?

“I’m so sorry I did this to you. I thought, I thought that you didn’t-”

“Just tell her!” Raven Reyes’ no-nonsense voice had never sounded more beautiful to Lexa’s ears as she felt the tiniest spark of hope flare up after all this time.

“Please don’t leave me, Lexa. I love you, _of course_ I do. I’m in love with you, baby.”

And suddenly, Lexa could finally feel Clarke’s lips against her temple, the firm press of fingers at her jaw and a familiar body bracketing her own. It all felt so warm as she took in her first real breath of air in months, looking up into the eyes of her favourite person.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Feel free to drop a comment and let me know your thoughts.


End file.
